Hello, everyone! Sorry for the weeks' delay but life became too hard and I had to stand up to everyone, the muse being pulled at the x-men universe also didn't help matters.

HUGE thanks to Marla1 for her amazing beta work.

Enjoy...

Chapter Fourteen – The Bridge

They reappeared at the Burrow, within an onslaught of screaming curses and beams of light. They were sent in overdrive as they started averting spells and raising shields of protection for each other. The ministry wouldn't stop and ask if they were indeed on their side so they simply followed Ron who was running towards his family's house and help the Weasleys who were actually outside, defending the place. Aurors had circled the Burrow.

'It's Harry Potter!' someone shouted but the couple ignored everyone as they rushed behind their best friend. After their last encounter with the minister for Magic and taking the Wand of Destiny, they weren't sure if they were still allies with the Aurors. The Deathstick burned inside Harry's pocket to be used. He did his best to ignore the urge to draw it out of his pocket, the taste of its power still lingering within him, bittersweet.

'They've come for Ginny!' Ron screamed through the commotion around them as they reached the door of the basement. They barely had the time to open the doors and rush inside the dark place before closing themselves inside and avoiding more spells as they bounced at the entrance.

Harry and Hermione were exhausted, gasping through their teeth, trying to catch their breath and adjust their eyes. The place was dimly lit, the smell betrayed humidity and spoiled food. Harry and Hermione looked at Ron as they illuminated their wands. They found themselves in a small space before another door. Harry went to that part of the basement a summer or two before, just to grab one of the old family broomsticks. Now the place was empty of things, the door seemed to have a lock. Ron looked at the couple of friends, his eyes tired, he glanced for a moment at their hands that didn't hold wands, checking if they were intertwined. He sighed and looked back at his best friends.

'I had no idea what was happening.' Ron started and Harry didn't have to glance at Hermione to know what to say next.

'We know Ginny has the Resurrection Stone, Ron.' Harry announced and Ron looked at them in shock.

'How?' he asked and looked at Hermione.

'Long story short, the ministry messed up with the Elder Wand, we have it. We need the Stone too, we must destroy it before we finish the Wand.' Hermione tried to explain, the spells were still bouncing off the doors, shielding them from the fight outside. She raised her wand and cast some protection spells that would buy them some time.

'She's behind these doors, Mum knew, she's in there as well. I learned about it only a few days ago. I had no idea, guys. I tried to contact you but Grimmauld felt like a fortress.' Ron explained and Harry felt his own along with Hermione's guilt curse through their veins, he had contacted them, he wanted to see them away from everyone else but they had thought it was because of their marriage. Their friendship had turned into a hardship that cost them valuable time. 'Mum knew for at least a few months now. I'm not sure how long Gin has had the Stone.' Ron added and Harry sighed.

'It could be years,' the raven haired man added and Ron rubbed his forehead.

'I don't know, I honestly don't. All I know is… Ginny is not well… we made it to take her wand but… her powers have changed. The ministry tried to take her, Mum refused, she begged me to find you two. We've been trying to keep them off but we know they simply don't kill us because we're War Heroes and they don't want this out on the front. Dad warned us at the last moment.' Ron concluded; his voice grim as he looked at his best friends in desperation. A lot of things had happened between them but they remained close, they knew each other like no other. Ron had no idea about the couple's ordeal with the Hallows so far, or Harry's parents, or their magical mental bond but the dynamics in the trio had shifted and finally, it felt as if they had the right positions.

'We're here to help, Ron,' Hermione tried to reassure him and the ginger gave a nod.

Ginny might be dangerous. Hermione sent to Harry who nodded as Ron moved closer to the door and opened it.

The room wasn't large, as Harry and Hermione remembered through the Wand, it was mostly empty, seeing it through their own eyes gave little difference in detail. Ginny was in a corner, crawled with her knees brought up to her face, her head bend down. Molly was close to her, she pointed her wand towards the three who raised their hands in a sign of surrender, the Weasley Matriarch was on edge, being the last defense of her only daughter.

Harry and Hermione did their best to ignore the surreal sight of no one else but Fred Weasley on the other corner of the room, he was semi transparent, younger than George, silent, vacant looking. Harry's parents were still talkative, with memories and explanations, feelings and even humor. But they were in the wrong plain of existence for a few days. The echo of Fred's soul seemed worn out, the couple couldn't possibly guess how long he had been kept in the world of the living through the Stone under Ginny's command.

'Talk to her.' Hermione urged Harry through their link as she glanced once more at the vacant looking ghost of Fred. She had to put an end to this, for Harry's and her own sake. After Ginny, no matter how she would end up, it was their turn for the Stone to corrupt.

The trio remained unmoving, Molly was silent and Fred remained motionless, possibly without seeing the new arrivals as Harry moved a step forward from his wife and their best friend. Hermione was between the two men, like always, and she and Ron looked at him with fearful eyes as he stopped before the young woman and her mother.

'Ginny…. It's me, Harry,' He announced unsure. She remained unmoving only for a moment longer, his voice seemed to make her move from her position, she raised her head and looked at him, her eyes full of hope.

They hadn't been together for years. She had tried many times over but he had been clear about his feelings for her. Whatever they had during that year at Hogwarts had actually been over during the hunt. He had watched her dot in the map while in the tent because he had connected her with the protection of his old school, with the familiarity of the people there. When the war was over, they had been left to find their relationship lacking depth, emotions and knowledge. But Ginny had been there back in his sixth year, with his teenager chest monster and her presence back then, she had helped him. She had been his first lover, even if for her, he had been her second, after Dean, still, she had been a part of his life. She knew her for two decades. She was Ron's sister, that mattered the most, he had saved her from the Diary of Voldemort, he would save her again now, he owed that to her and Ron.

'Harry,' her voice was strange, as if she hadn't uttered a word in days. Her gaze drifted to Hermione, for a moment actual hatred flickering in them before she could look at Ron and then back at Hermione, then back at Harry. 'You're here, for me,' Ginny added mostly to herself and Harry nodded.

'We're all here for you, Gin,' Harry tried again and Ginny smiled this time, her smile never reaching her wild eyes. The Stone had worked on her for a very long time, this was evident.

'Ron is with Hermione,' Ginny assumed and Harry was ready to say something about it, but Hermione's voice reasoned with him.

'Play along,' she had the time to send and finally Harry nodded his head as Ginny's attention shifted to him. As she moved slightly against the wall Harry could see the Stone actually settled in her skin, halfway hooked inside her body, close to her heart. As the Diary Horcrux had absorbed her, now the Stone was sucking her health, both mental and physical. He wasn't sure why Ginny had this tendency against dark objects, just like her brother had been affected the most by the Locket. Harry didn't have time to explain things nor wonder how powerful the Stone actually was.

Ginny moved with difficulty on her own two feet, refusing Molly's help who had remained silent by her daughter's side and looking at the three people before them. The youngest Weasley moved closer to Harry, her hands were empty, indeed her wand had been taken. She had lost a lot of weight, her clothes were dirty, her face paler than usual and tired. Ginny hesitated only for a moment before she could flung herself on Harry who could only open his arms and hug her as she wrapped her arms around him. He could feel the surge of panic and fear through Hermione, cursing through him like a wave as she was weary of Ginny. Deep down he was proud Hermione didn't feel jealousy or annoyance, his wife was better than that.

Ginny's eyes glanced at Fred at the end of the room who finally looked up at her and shook his head. Through the Stone, she was controlling him.

'They are lying to you,' Fred simply informed his living sister and Ginny broke the embrace with Harry quickly and looked at the trio furiously.

'No we are not,' Harry tried and Ginny snapped her head back at Fred who shook his own, his motions apathetic of the magical energy that charged through the basement. Ginny looked back at Harry and Hermione.

'All I wanted… all I wanted,' Ginny started stammering as Molly tried to move closer to her but Ginny raised her hand and shielded herself in a cocoon of power. The Stone was using Ginny, amplifying her powers and making her use powerful spells wandlessly, anything to keep itself safe. 'Was to make us a big family again. Like before you abandoned me for the Horcruxes.' Ginny added, her voice breaking.

'Calm her down, long enough for us to take the Stone,' Harry shook his head at Ginny's words but sent his agreement through his link with Hermione.

'I didn't mean to, Gin, I had to finish what I had started with Dumbledore. You know that.' Harry tried and Ginny looked at him unsure, her perception lost. 'How did you find the Stone?' He asked her and for the first time she seemed to smile genuinely, her hand moving up to her skin and stroking the semi-buried Hallow.

'You told me about the Hallows…. You never told me about the location of the Stone…' Ginny started and Harry nodded this time. 'But in your dreams, for the first year, you spoke through your nightmares.' Ginny added and Harry frowned, feeling vulnerable before her. 'But it wasn't just your nightmares. Ever since my second year, my mind remained open… violated, many times you projected your nightmares and I picked them up. I saw the location, I saw the centaurs running over it right after you threw it there.' Ginny added and Harry for a moment wondered how she made it to pass the ministry's evaluation tests, maybe she hadn't, that's why the aurors were trying to get to them all now.

Voldemort had messed with the deeper parts of her brain through his Horcrux. 'When she and I went back for our seventh year,' Ginny added, looking at Hermione with furious eyes again. 'I searched, in all my spare time I searched through the forbidden forest. And I found it, or it found me, I am not sure.' Ginny added and Harry finally nodded, feeling guilty for actually throwing the Hallow carelessly that night in the mud.

He was only eighteen, he hadn't through of the extent of the Hallows' powers. Of course the Stone would have searched for a new owner. 'I hadn't used it in a long time, hoping we would make it. But you started drifting away from me, with that bloody team and all I wanted was my family to be reunited. I wanted Fred back, I wanted you back, I wanted Ron happy.' Ginny added, and tears started running down her cheeks, there was a cup of something Molly had brought her daughter that flew across the room and smashed against the stone wall, making everyone gasp and look back at Ginny.

'How long have you've been using the stone, Gin?' Harry tried to ask calmly, the redhead looked at him in wonder.

'I…' Ginny tried this time to answer, for a moment only, her eyes seemed to clear the fog that existed in them, the shield around her failing. 'I… What is the year?' she asked in fear as she looked up at her family and friends and touched her lips with the trembling hand that had been stroking the Stone before.

Harry could see now why he had found her persistence over the years so strange. At first he had thought it was because he didn't know her so well. Then, he had thought she simply was stubborn with her idea of them as a couple. But now, now he could see it was partly the Stone, feeding itself from the need of Ginny to go back to that time where all her relatives were alive, where she was safe and without responsibility. Like Ginny herself had been Harry's connection to Hogwarts during the Hunt, the Stone had been Ginny's link to her old life before the war.

'Ginny, I need the Stone, please,' Harry tried to exploit the moment of clarity. Ginny didn't have the time to nod, her eyes shut in pain as she screamed and her body arched backwards, her torso protracted. Molly screamed in horror as she looked at her child falling under the Stone's torturous influence.

There was a bang from outside the door of the room, aurors would invade the basement any moment. Ginny's body was engulfed in the same cocoon like before and Harry and Hermione looked at each other before anyone could do something more. The Aurors would injure and capture her but the Stone would actually kill Ginny. Ron moved towards the door, trying to shield the door with more spells as Hermione rushed close to Harry the moment he drew out the Elder Wand. Molly tried to move forward, to shield her child from the couple but Hermione moved her aside with a wandless spell and then wrapped her hand around Harry's that held the Deathstick.

For a moment they saw the shadows like before, all eager for the wand to be used, for the Stone to bring them back, all the previous Masters were there, between the Hallows. The couple didn't have to summon the Stone as the Wand itself beckoned it.

The scream that ripped through Ginny's throat made their blood run cold but there was no other way. The Stone detached itself with a sickening ripping sound from her skin as the Second Hallow couldn't deny the pull of the Elder Wand. Hermione reached for it and took it in her hand, Ginny's blood still on it. It hummed with power so close to the Wand after almost twenty years. Fred vanished from the end of the room. Ginny collapsed with Molly rushing close to her child and reaching her just in time before she could hit her head on the cold floor. Ron's spell yielded before the combined attempts of the Aurors outside, but the couple didn't stay long enough to be disarmed or attacked. The Wand was feeding through them and it would abandon them the moment someone disarmed them. They apparated away with a loud crack. Leaving in guilt and fear of what the Weasleys would face on their own.

They were back in Grimmauld a moment later. Out of breath and wandlessly sealing the place again. No one would be able to follow them, at least for the next hours. The couple could only hope Kingsley would keep his Aurors from coming after them. They looked at each other and Hermione moved her hand between them, the stone glistered in the dim light of Grimmauld's living room. This had been faster than they expected. They didn't have to kill anyone and they hoped no one would be killed.

Without a word, vocal or mental, Harry took the still blooded Stone. For a moment more, they were alone, then, James, Lily, Remus, Tonks and Sirius were with them, smiling at them calmly.

'Well done,' Sirius smiled at his godson who smiled at him tiredly, the couple could feel the Wand feeding off them, this had to be their final time all together. 'I am so glad you ended up with Hermione, the brightest witch of our age,' he added and Harry couldn't help but smile wider, Stone or not, he was with his entire family.

'We are very proud of both of you,' Remus added and Tonks nodded.

'Thank you for taking care of our boy,' she added and Harry and Hermione nodded.

'We love you all very much,' Harry said honestly, they had to be quick. He looked at his parents.

'Thank you for the past days,' he added and Lily smiled gently at the young couple. He had cherished the time with his parents, but now that the Stone was actually in his hands along the Wand, he could feel the pull, its need to be attached and used all the time. He could also see the ghost's appearance, like back in the forbidden forest that night he faced Voldemort, was less transparent, more human like for the Stone to trap them.

'We love you very much,' Lily added.

'We'll always be with you,' James finally said to his son and daughter in law who nodded and took Harry's hand.

'Take care of my thick-headed godson, Hermione, please!' Sirius added and Hermione chuckled tearfully and nodded.

'With my life,' she finally said to Harry's family, her own family, she always knew. 'There is not one day that we don't miss you,' she added to her friends, Sirius, Remus and Tonks had been symbols of love and resistance for her, just like her in-laws of hope and sacrifice.

'Now go back to that basement and get rid of the bloody things once and for all,' Tonks offered with a smile and the couple nodded their heads and looked at Harry's parents for a moment more, there was nothing else to say and so many things to be told. They only nodded at the seemingly younger couple of Harry's parents and left the room. Hermione holding Harry's hand tightly as they rushed back to the enchanted basement.

The door closed behind them, Hermione took the Stone from Harry's hand and placed it on the stone table they had the Wand before. They looked at the Hallow for a moment. Harry was still holding the Elder Wand, for a moment he looked around the room and wandlessly summoned a folded delicate fabric.

'I thought we'd need it too, the moment we'd have the Stone.' Harry added as she looked at his invisibility Cloak. He mostly felt how impressed she was with him and in spite of the dire situation, he smiled at her warmly. 'Hold this,' he offered the Wand to her and the moment she did, she could feel the burning sensation, her theory seemed right, the Wand was rejecting her, she was a woman, the Master's wife, his love, the catalyst for its destruction. Despite the pain, she felt confident this would work in their favor.

Harry covered them both with the cloak, symbolically they'd avoid death, but they couldn't help and feel like these little children that sneaked around Hogwarts, for a moment. The married couple smiled at each other honestly, their link filling with the memories and the love they shared for the past two decades and Hermione winced as the Wand burned the skin of her hand more. Harry took it from her smaller hand and she placed her tender palm above his. They pointed the Wand towards the Stone.

Their consciousnesses were pulled within the Hallows. They found themselves on a bridge, there was a wild river running under it, souls were rushing down the water, the couple noticed some of those shadows they had seen in the Wand, now the remains of their darkness washed down the river. Three figures were standing on the bridge, before them an unnaturally tall but hunching figure. The twilight behind them was giving itself to night. They were at the moment it all started, an entire circle would be able to close or become never-ending.

Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus Peverell were receiving the gifts of Death. The couple watched as the trio bragged about their win over Death who simply bowed and moved aside so they could cross the bridge. The massive figure approached them, the cloak was concealing them but Death could see them, they were familiar to Him after all.

The scull beneath his semi-transparent hood was terrifying, his long bone fingers and the skeleton for a body were shivering worthy but the couple stood its ground with the actual gifts of Death in their possession.

Brave and Alive. A hissing like sound reached their ears.

Young and Handsome. The voice was heard again.

Brilliant and Fertile. Compliments or all the things Death longed for and fed upon.

Wise and Beautiful. The hooded figure moved its long hand close to their cloak and they were suddenly uncovered, bare before Death, naked and exposed to the Ripper, the invisibility cloak became one with Death's own cloak, once again.

Compassionate and Innocent. The voice remained, as if calculating, giving the final judgment on the scales. The couple remained unmoving, the Wand and the Stone in their holding hands.

In Love. The voice finally concluded and to the couple's horror the long bone fingers gripped the gossamer from the ugly scull, revealing a long bone face with no nose or eyes, long teeth and a prolonged chin. They both moved closer to each other, trying to shield their other half, just like Lily Potter had predicted for them, volunteering to die for each other.

For a moment, out of urge and human need, the couple was ready to raise the Wand before its actual and only Master. The Deathstick was humming with power, the Stone vibrating at the presence of its creator. Both Hallows craved for the couple's souls as much as Death craved them for himself. Harry and Hermione were Death's forbidden fruit, he was familiar with them but they always slipped through his horrible fingers.

They both stopped, they would face Death once more, they looked at him in his ugly eyes and smiled. They had faced him before, they realized his face was familiar. Both Harry and Hermione had escaped him but at that moment, they were together, like always, only now, they had found each other and their love, the missing component. It didn't matter if they departed this life, they had lived through sorrow and through joy, through loss and through love. If this was their end, they were ready.

I love you

They broke their hold of their hands, knowing they were together in this, Harry held the Wand and Hermione the Stone. They both bowed their heads and extended their hands before them offering back Death's gifts. No power, no bringing back the dead, or the need to avoid Him existed anymore. Death could have his gifts back, he could also have them for they had each other.

Love

Death gave in, reaching for the gifts, without touching their skin, he picked up his gifts, floating them to himself. Only then Hermione and Harry raised their heads and looked at their faith.

Death crushed the Stone in his bonny fist, its dust falling through the bones of his fingers. He then held the Wand with both hands and snapped it in two, throwing it down the river that was running under the bridge. He then faced the couple again. He moved aside and gestured for them.

At the end of the bridge, engulfed in light, there were the Potters, the Lupins, Sirius and his brother Regulus, Albus Dumbledore, Fred Weasley, Cedric Diggory and so many more. Before them all, there were themselves, happily smiling back at them, nodding their heads. A few steps further down the bridge and they'd be done with the mortal fears, with the decay of age and the hardships, with the failures of human nature. They could reach the light together.

It wasn't their time yet, not after so many years of trying to live.

Both Harry and Hermione looked at Death and putting all their trust and strength in their love and decision in common, they turned around towards the other side of the bridge, their back at Death who remained unmoving on the Bridge.

At the other side there were fewer people and less light, the familiarity of life, Ron and Luna and Hermione's parents, Teddy and Andromeda, Minerva McGonagall and Neville, some more friends and two children, a boy with black hair and green eyes and a girl with brown hair and brown eyes. Away from the small group there was a forest and a house in it. There was decay and there was beauty.

The bridge shook violently the moment the couple broke to a sprint, naked and running off the collapsing bridge the Peverells had conjured to cross the tricky river. The figure behind them spread its long wings and hovered above the river, waiting to see if they would end up in the side they'd chosen or if the river would take their souls without striking a deal for a normal life or a peaceful afterlife. The couple ran with all their might away from Death once again. The bridge groaned as it dissolved and both Harry and Hermione jumped to the shore at the last moment, saving themselves at the side of the living. They remained on the decaying grass as the massive figure spread His wings and left empty-handed, thousands of crows following him from the surrounding trees.

They would meet him again one day, they knew.

Sooooo Hermione and Harry made it to destroy the Hallows! I hope you liked the chapter, I think a small epilogue for the final loose ends will be made. I hope you enjoyed it, I wanted to explore more the Stone's power as the saga was focused on the Wand but I think the Stone would be as destructive... Poor Ginny, I also wanted to exploit a little the younger Weasleys' weaknesses with dark magical objects.

What you think? you liked it? you hated it? please leave a review.

CP09